


Away

by yoongleboong



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crying, Dance Major Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Dancer Lee Minho | Lee Know, Established Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gender-neutral Reader, Hwang Hyunjin & Lee Felix are Best Friends, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Music Major Han Jisung | Han, One Shot, School Festivals, Soft Lee Felix (Stray Kids), and you are whipped for him, enjoy, everyone is honestly, idk im done, mentioned 3RACHA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoongleboong/pseuds/yoongleboong
Summary: When the bitter-sweet news was being told in your ear by the boy you loved, hugging you as his life depended on it, you hadn't been able to keep your tears at bay. That was four months ago, and without him next to you, it was also your coldest winter yet.
Relationships: Lee Felix (Stray Kids)/Reader, Lee Felix (Stray Kids)/You
Kudos: 9





	Away

**Author's Note:**

> *sighs* it's a happy ending I promise-

It's a cold winter day, but not the wet, gloomy type. This one is the kind that hangs over the city with a blue hue and the weird, overly reflective white light. Not windy, not rainy, just dry, the biting cold is present. The one that makes your eyes water and skin itchy.  
He, however, was everything warm after being in that cold for you.

_Like the moment you step into a cafe with pastry and grounded coffee smell, after walking in the cold long enough to shiver._

_The tingling feeling on your face and the most wholesome shade of pink dusting your cheeks and nose the second you enter your space you call home._

_When your sweater that's pulled over your cold fingers wrap around a warm cup of drink, warmth seeping through the fabric, and you almost feel it hug your soul._

_When something unexpected happens, or something you didn't have faith in, coming true. The pleasant drop in your stomach, a pause,_

_And the celebratory sigh you let out after getting through the bumpy road before it could give you a headache._

You eventually have gotten used to not having him close whenever you'd like as days passed while your trust was over-the-roof for the adorable boy. He proved that he was worthy of it with every fiber of his being since the day you knew each other. 

Of course, you missed it since he always gave the best cuddles and the sweetest words of assurance when you used to bunch up under a blanket and chat about how your days were. So when Felix told you the bitter-sweet news, who was hugging you as his life depended on it, you hadn't been able to keep your tears at bay. They sourced from your pride, joy, and the small, selfish addiction to his warming, sun-like presence. _He called you his daisy, after all._ You vividly remember grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and chanting, "oh my god!"'s, "congrats!"'s and "so proud of you!"'s back to him between taking deepest breaths of his scent as you could while sobbing and jumping in his embrace. 

_That was four months ago, and without him next to you, it was also your coldest winter yet._

Thankfully, he has been adjusting well to his new college, new major. You know he is built for, living for dancing. Even the smallest twitch of his fingers to his current favorite song carried a rhythm, an aesthetic.

That was also the reason why he got offered an immediate scholarship, the very same week he sent his choreography video to his dream school. You knew they could never pass on a natural like Felix, but the rate of their replying speed swept the ground under both of your feets. 

Both of you also knew that his previous major did not and was not going to make him happy anytime soon. His love and talent wouldn't get the exposure they needed in the dance club classes he took between his already busy schedule. So you made the best of those three days you had with him then, helping him pack and make his arrangements. 

Hours were spent sitting in a pile of his belongings and wrapping his valuables with pieces of clothing, helping him stuff those in his bags like it was some annoying puzzle. One of the many playlists you made together was continuously heard playing in the background faintly. The occasional rush of tears clouding your eyes and your figure lunging forward to steal one more, many more kisses from his freckles until you had to see him off to his happiness. His focused brows relaxed every single time he saw you leaning in, and generously gave a bit broken but nonetheless loving smile every time he heard you mutter words of encouragement with a strained voice. 

After you accompanied Felix to the airport, you felt a piece of you leave with him, as much as you were excited to see what's coming next, with the optimistic turn of events.

You actually trusted him more than yourself with calling you before you got worried about his whereabouts, keeping you updated. Video-calls were your only way to check if your sun still looked healthy and shined, so far away, having been busy dancing all day and less than average cooking skills. The laggy screen of your video call did absolutely no justice to his beautiful features that you so missed to admire up close, but the over-joyed voice of his, whenever he told you how he was already his trainer's favorite in the whole class, made up for it.

While all these happened, Felix never once forgot to ask about your well-being, but you never said much other than reassuring him that you were healthy. _All those things you liked to do previously, was proven to be so because he was next to you,_ so there wasn't really something to tell him other than showering him with a generous amount of " _I love you_ "'s on your part.

Maybe that was the reason why he looked so positively surprised when you told him that you were considering to go and see the events in the old food court area on your campus. The spacious land dedicated to it has been an eyesore since forever, mainly because of the way it was so inefficiently used, and with its flimsy tables getting moved around by passing students. This year, its new purpose was eventually put up for voting to be renovated and it was decided that the space would be used for celebrations in this year's holiday season.

"Whoa!" you heard him exclaim. "I knew Chan would make a great student representative when I voted for him." he boasted, making deep voices of contentment as he read your face, waiting for you to mirror his excitement. 

"Right? You are amazing at these kinds of things." you manage to croak, trying your best to look as stable as you could.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?" you saw him lean closer to the webcam instinctively, over the reflective tears that collected in your eyes. 

You huffed a laugh and turned to your side to shake the tears away as smoothly as possible. "Nothing! Nothing is wrong, baby." 

"Then why-" Felix tried to reason.

"Just wanted to ask if you were able to come and visit, but I also don't want you to squeeze a whole flight in just for a couple of days when you are so busy and maybe you would like to see your pare-" you rambled before stopping abruptly. _You definitely did not want to pressure or make him feel bad about it, but you also missed him so damn much and hoped that maybe, just maybe-_

"Baby, are you listening?" he asked, a little concerned.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. Go on."

"I was telling you about our team having a show for the season." he was back to his cheerful self again, "It's going to be a themed show outdoors. It was also why I was a bit busier than usual this week!" Felix excitedly informed.

Now you were also smiling, his contagious energy always being something you admired. "Wow! Felix, why didn't you tell me sooner? That's amazing!" 

Puffing his cheeks before starting, "I was actually thinking of surprising you with a video from the performance," he said with a pause, ruffling his hair. "I think I mentioned him before, my film major friend Hyunjin volunteered for video graphing it for the school's website, but um, that was until he was hired for somewhere else for the week and I honestly don't know anyone else talented and kind enough to make a deal for it, yet." he sighed.

You couldn't help but coo, "It's okay sunshine. Don't stress over it, please!" 

Taking the time to admire his smile, you continued, "There will always be a next time, right? Maybe I can visit you there in spring! Seeing you in your element will be the best break for me then, and you could show me the places you always tell me about!"

After the night's call ended, you went to sleep with a small smile on your face, remembering Felix's rushed but persistent request for a vow from you,

"Promise me! You will not sit the holiday events away at the dorm, sulking! Oh, and you will also send me a series of pictures of your pretty self!" he said, nearly shouting, as he rushed out of the door and to his practice with his voice muffled by his messily worn scarf. You couldn't help but cackle at his weirdly desperate tone, "Okay, okay! I promise, just be careful on the way and be on time, dummy!" 

Your week after your video call was pretty much uneventful other than the walk to your classes gradually becoming a better sight, as volunteering students cleaned up the area, colorful lights and hand-made patchwork banners were hung along the sides of the road by art students and the fashion department, food stands being built by the food department and wood technology students, and there was this mid-sized stage they set up in front of the "events" area that people were so passionately working on. 

(Sometime in the middle of the week, you felt really bad about not being able to help the people spending so much time outside in the cold and decided to visit the convenience store to buy and give them packs of various tea and instant coffee packs after seeing the food stands now had a hot water system set up and complimented every little thing that made your previously dreaded walks to class a billion times better.) 

It was eventually the day before the celebrations started, and you saw the school's dance club captain on your way back to your dorm. He was gesturing excitedly towards the stage and having a heated discussion with someone who you have never seen around here before. 

"Lee Minho!" you called, with a smile on your face, waving. You didn't have a reason to visit the small studio they had as the dance club after Felix had left, but you knew he was a fun guy to be around when you did visit.

Your eyes met as he turned to see who called for him, but instead of reacting the way you would guess, he snapped his head back to the guy before him the second he saw your approaching figure, mumbled something, and curtly greeted you with a small nod of his head as he started walking away hurriedly before you could come any closer, and towards the stage. 

Your steps came to a halt as confusion washed over you, not sure what to call this unusual exchange. You awkwardly smiled at the guy who was talking to Minho seconds ago, and both of your gazes followed the said hyper guy walking around and organizing things for a moment, before the blond shot you an empathetic look and caught up to him.

"That... Was something at least," you mumbled to yourself before making your way to your room even faster than before. It was a shame that Felix's free day was yesterday and not today because this would surely be a fun story to tell him when you could hear his pretty laugh, even if it was over your crappy speakers. 

_(You made a mental note to send him a picture of your outfit for tomorrow, after looking back to the path which was so close to coming alive with bright lights and colors, in a couple of hours.)_

Your next morning was filled with joy as you had woken up to Felix's signature texts with cute kaomoji at the end of each sentence, 

**_sunshine! :_ ** aaa!! you will look gorgeous, baby! σ(≧ε≦σ) ♡ ( _ 1:12 AM  _)

 **_sunshine! :_ ** now you are going to have to send me MORE pictures of you there, and I change our deal to 15 pics minimum, you can't bargain. ψ( ` ∇ ´ )ψ _( 1:13 AM  ) _

**_sunshine! :_ ** jokes aside though, enjoying yourself comes before anything, and I might give you a kiss if you do,,, (づ￣ ³￣)づ _( 1:13 AM  ) _

  * _sunshine! replied to you:_



_ "Good luck with the performances! Just do what you always do, no one on this earth could resist drooling over your talent!! I will be cheering from here, lol, imagine I am somewhere in the crowd!" (12:05 AM)  _

**_sunshine! :_ ** will do baby! ☆⌒(≧▽° ) I hope you enjoy the stage tomorrow. _( 1:14 AM  ) _

_...The stage tomorrow?_ you paused after replying to his messages.

Was there going to be a stage today? You couldn't have told him that, since you were clueless about the event schedule for the week. _Maybe Minho told him about it,_ you guessed, sighing. They were close friends after all.

After freshening up, you had a small breakfast, looking forward to the snack stands in the events area, and started to get ready to join the crowd in the afternoon.

 _It was a cold winter day, but not the wet, gloomy type. The kind that hung over the city with a blue hue and the weird, overly reflective white light. Not windy, not rainy, just dry._ _The sun going down the earliest in the whole year, violet and fuschia hues appearing in the sky by 5 pm, appearing strangely warm to look at despite the chilly weather._

You finally stepped out of the building and started to make your way between the crowd slowly, taking in the beautiful atmosphere around you and occasionally stopping to take pictures of the decorations and selfies with Felix in mind. There were groups of people at every corner, the couples chatting quietly by the stands they bought their drinks and warm pastries from. 

Colorfully painted light bulbs hanging above the standing tables, making the laughs of the people there paint the sky in red, blue, and green fog for a couple of moments until it fainted away with the cold. You grabbed yourself a warm drink from the stands you had visited when they were working on this project, exchanging greetings and compliments. As you looked for an empty space to settle and enjoy the orderly chaos around you, 

"Hey!" you hear someone call, hand in the hair, and meeting your gaze between the passersby. It's the blond boy from yesterday, dressed up to the nines, carrying a huge camera, and seems to be in a hurry.

You gave him a smile as you watched him approach you with quick steps,

"Hi, I hope you are enjoying yourself! Could you follow me for a second?" he asks, hand pointing somewhere in front of the stage.

"Uh, sure?" you start to trail behind him as he strides away clutching the camera to his body tightly to prevent it from moving around. "Why me though, did you need help with something?" you ask, trying to catch up to him to the best of your ability. You see him slow down for a moment, turning to face you with a small smile, 

"Minho said he had to make up for not being able to chat yesterday,"

"Ah, but he didn't need t-" 

"Here!" you heard Minho call from your right, and the now grinning blond gently pushed you towards him with a quiet "Have fun!" 

"Uh, thanks! You too?" you mumbled before hurrying to where Minho was standing.

"Hello again, sorry for the weird exchange yesterday, and please, have a seat!" Minho quickly motioned to the chair in front of you.

"Thank you, you really shouldn't have! I really didn't mind it, you were probably very busy!" you said with a grateful, yet confused smile.

"Don't mention it, we are good right?" 

"Of course!" 

He looked a bit stressed, "Now, I have to go but you, don't go anywhere, you really wouldn't want to miss your seat here." 

After he took off running, you looked around, a little dumb-founded. He managed to secure you a spot closest to the stage, the rows of seats you walked here by covering the grass in a crossed pattern for a better vision from the back. 

"Wow," you huffed out and pulled your phone out to text Felix about the sweet gesture, and to assure him you were keeping your promise. People next to the stage were busy with the lights and sound-checks as you were busy typing,

"Ahem, Everyone! We are almost done getting ready for the stages we prepared for you, please slowly start to take your seats, no pushing!" announced someone who was now on the stage.

The excited murmurs of the students came closer and closer, seats were full in no time, you saw the music production majors Bang Chan, Seo Changbin, and Han Jisung at the corner setting up their station to DJ, Chan meeting your gaze for a second and giving you a bright, dimpled smile with a nod of his head, and the other two raised their hands to greet you from afar after seeing him smiling. They were known as 3RACHA, amazing producers, and you got to know them by Felix, as well. You couldn't help but sigh heavily, his absence never leaving your mind. 

"Hello again, everyone! This is Kim Seungmin and it's an honor to be here. I will be the emcee for the week, hope we have a great time together!" 

The crowd came alive with the announcement, cheers loud and excited, and you joined their celebration with a "Woo!" of your own.

"Now, let me introduce the line-up for today. First, we will have the party started with a special DJ performance by 3RACHA. They will also accompany the other performances, give them a hand please!" Cheers only became louder, the trio had been everyone's favorite since the first time they volunteered and promoted their music, in various school events. 

"After a very small break, we will keep it hot! Blueprint Performance Arts Academy students will be performing a series of two amazing performances! One vocal, and a dance performance, in collaboration with 3RACHA!" People got up from their seats to chant various reactions to his words, while you froze in your seat. 

_It was Felix's school._ You couldn't believe it, looking around like crazy to see if you could spot your boyfriend around the stage somewhere. 

You sighed in defeat when you couldn't see anyone due to the stage's high backdrop, and the long line of seats all around it, filled with loudly cheering people. Everyone couldn't help but scream their lungs out at the mention of the academy, its reputation being widely described as "perfect" and every positive adjective possible. 

You felt your hands sweat with anticipation, insides churning with the possibility of seeing Felix after months, so up close. Your feet were screaming at you to get up, run until you found him, but you had to be rational, Minho's, blondie's, and obviously your boyfriend's efforts probably weren't pointless. That moment, the emcee, Seungmin continued, making you wonder if he could read your mind,

"Exciting, right? haha! Please do not leave your seats if you don't want to miss out everyone!" _you could swear it was directed to you, eyes meeting at the last part. How the hell -_

It was getting extremely hard to sit still each passing second. _"_ Then we will have a small firework show, followed by a sing-along session to traditional holiday tunes together, and who knows, maybe some of you could even join us here on the stage!" people behind you were suggesting random song names in excitement already.

"Alright, alright," the emcee chuckled, "I know you are very excited, we will have all the time this week to keep your spirits up!" He was really good at crowd management, you thought as he shouted, "Let's get it started!" 

You let a deep breath that you weren't aware of holding, _let's._

The loud beat dropped, the DJ's intro starting off strong and engaging as always, and a familiar figure moved at the pit of the stage with a familiar huge camera. _And that must be Hyunjin, then._

You decided to actually enjoy yourself since anything other than that didn't really sound smart. 3RACHA performed three of their most popular, upbeat songs including the intro, the crowd singing along and going crazy with the cold weather, and the excitement in their veins. 

The "very small" break following the stages felt like years, both the cold and the excitement making your fingertips feel like they were going to break and fall onto the ground like icicles. 

A moment later, Seungmin appeared on the stage, introducing his friend, Yang Jeongin, and Changbin. 

_"My Universe"_ was the song they were singing, a nice change in tune after the harsh rap beats 3RACHA hyped the crowd with, while still being very upbeat, and you understood why that academy and its students were so highly praised. Seungmin's and Jeongin's vocals were _absolutely beautiful,_ while Changbin proved that he was so versatile in talent, once again. The song was slowly ending, and your already on-edge feelings were shaken with the beautiful performance, you felt warm tears streaming down your face and the lump in your throat growing impossibly huge.

Nervous ticks keeping your hands busy, the text message you were typing to your boyfriend left unattended on your lap, crowd now silent with anticipation as the trio bowed and walked to the side, and off of the stage. You saw Hyunjin shooting a small smile towards your direction with a glint in his eyes before he got ready and took position as well. 

The second a faint melody started to slowly fade in, your eyes snapped towards the curtains behind the makeshift DJ booth, body sliding to the very edge of your seat. Main dancers of the two dance groups going in first, your eyes followed Minho to the center, and a beat later, _Felix_. His gaze already on you, piercing right into yours like he was the one who put you there, and you knew he was the mastermind of the setup you were subjected to. Eyes full of tears and a huge smile on your face, you whispered, _"There you are."_

He gave you a tiny smile, eyes softening milliseconds before going into character as the other dancers took their places on the stage as well. There were around 20-25 people and in all that movement, position changes, and different gestures they were doing, they managed to be in perfect sync. Sue you, even though you appreciated the performance as a whole, your eyes were fixed on Felix, a sight you could never get bored of, every single mimic and gesture of his were engaging like you were a puppet, and he was the one in charge of your strings. They soon finished in a perfect formation as expected, _and you were finally breathing again_. 

You scrambled to your feet to applause, the people around and behind you following to do the same right after. Tears were now flowing from immense joy, pride as they were months ago, when he told you about the scholarship offer, and the day you saw him off to achieve his dreams. He came all the way back and showed you, and many others, that you weren't wrong to support him with his decision.

Seconds after the final beat of the music, the dancers stood up and formed a tight line to bow and thank the crowd. Felix's eyes were now back on you, standing there in all his glory, and he broke into his biggest grin yet. 

_It had been 4 months, and you could swear to every being out there, that it wasn't a cold December evening anymore, but a warm, bright summer morning._

You jumped to your feet to meet with Felix next to the stage, running like mad and randomly throwing "excuse, me!"'s and "sorry!"'s to no one, and everyone at the same time, your eyes never once leaving his.

Sharply turning at the bars separating the stage and the crowd, you threw yourself into his waiting arms, "You are here! Oh my GOD, Felix! You are here!" 

"Yup," he said, popping the "p" at the end, "And I missed you so much."

You lifted your face from his shoulder with a sniff, and took his face between your hands, "Me too, sunshine."

 _It still_ _didn't feel real yet,_ a weird combination of emotions causing you to feel like he had never left in the first place, but also like he wasn't standing before you. "But just because you are cute, don't think you can get away without an explanation." you half-heartedly scolded. 

"Never thought of it." he grinned, before pecking the tip of your nose and holding your hand, taking you to somewhere behind the stage. Most of the other performers were done freshening up and were out back in the events area to watch the fireworks. You took your time to admire him as he quickly stuffed his belongings into his bag, even though the low lighting behind the curtains weren't helping. Seungmin was heard instructing the crowd, telling them to stay at a safe distance to the field before the show could start, followed by Jisung who announced that a student-voted playlist would play for the rest of the night as everyone got up.

"There," said Felix as he approached you, "We planned to meet at a table near the booths with my friends, let's join them, and then we can talk all we want, hm?" You giggled at his jumpiness, an outsider could easily think he was not the one performing moments ago, but someone from the partying crowd instead. Your fingers intertwined as you made your way to their designated meeting place with small talk, quick steps, and huge smiles adorning your faces. 

The closer you got to the standing table, you could see the now-familiar faces, chatting fervently with steaming drinks between their hands. Hyunjin and Chan were the first ones seeing you approach between the crowd, Chan lifting his arms in the air and loudly says, "Aye! There you are, the real stars of the show!" making everyone snicker in delight, as Hyunjin looked at Felix with a proud smile. You followed close behind him to greet everyone, the ones from your own college being closer, therefore the first ones, until it came to his "new" friends.

After the brief introductions, you made sure to compliment everyone for their performances, "And you," you sighed with a wide smile, "THE Hyunjin I heard lots about, nice to finally, properly meeting you, huh?"

He let out a chuckle as he gently shook your hand, "My pleasure, it was about time!" 

You turned to Felix with loving eyes, grinning, "Now, will you tell me how did you get all these busy people into your plan, sunshine?"

Felix muttered "Right," with a small blush, scratching his neck adorably. He has always been known for his cute, heart-warming events for everyone close to him, after his talents and amazing personality.

Everyone was a little flustered, smiling, and occasionally throwing in comments along the lines of "It was not a big deal," as Felix summarized how they got here, and how he convinced his friends to get you where he wanted for today (Spoiler, it wasn't too hard, with how loved he was among his friends.). Both of you thanked everyone once more, and you cuddled into Felix's side snugly as the group fell into a relaxed routine enjoying the fireworks, getting refills of the warm drinks, accompanied by great music and chatting. 

You couldn't help but admire Felix from time to time between the laughs you shared with the group, his eyes meeting yours every time he felt you lean back, sweet nothings and Eskimo kisses exchanged under the colorful lights.

Sometimes you couldn't help but wonder if you have saved an emperor in your previous life or something, the boy with the blue halo and freckles in your embrace looking too ethereal to be true as he whispers, _"I love you."_

**Author's Note:**

> Reminder: This AU is NOT in a time of a global pandemic, hence the interactions are described without any mentions of preventive measures. Stay safe!


End file.
